Division I

Playoff Picture: Division I Field Hockey (Sept. 27)

Here are the standings and playoff pairings for Division I field hockey if the postseason were to begin today.

There are a few reasons why the Bishop Guertin High School field hockey team is having a successful season.

For senior Maddy Harrington, there is one that stands out above the rest.

"We’re all just a bunch of best friends on the field," she said. "That’s how I like to think about it."

Best friends with one big goal in mind: becoming the first group to get the Cardinals to a Division I championship game.

They came as close as the program ever has a year ago, taking eventual runner-up Windham to overtime in the semifinals before falling 1-0. But that team lost some strong players, including Taylor Guibord, who is playing D1 field hockey at Colgate University, along with three more - Lauren Redfern, Kam Schmitt and Hailey LeBlanc - who will play D1 college lacrosse in the spring.

Despite that, Bishop Guertin has still won eight of its first nine games after Wednesday night's 5-0 win against the Jaguars, the program's first victory against Windham.

"Being so close to making it to the championship last year, and not making it, it’s given us more grit to go forward and hopefully make it this year," Harrington said. "Our intuition with each other is perfect. We know where everyone is and we’re planning ahead of time."

Knowing it was going to take a little bit more from everyone to fill in the gaps this year was something the Cardinals focused on before the season started, according to senior Sophie Bilodeau.

"I think a lot of our seniors, and even juniors, this year stepped up and said ‘we’re not going to drop off,’ she said. "I think that’s what everyone was predicting. They don’t have these players, so they’re not going to be as good. I think that we took advantage of that and stepped in."

Bilodeau and Harrington, and senior Jordan Gaebel, have led the way, but coach Dakota Bilodeau - Sophie's sister and a Cardinals field hockey alum - has seen a lot of other players step up as well.

"Some of our players who didn’t shine as bright last year now get the opportunity to," the coach said. "We’ve had our upperclassmen really step up to the plate. Then we’ve had some underclassmen who really developed over the summer and early in the season. Gabby Gillette being a big one, Addy Daddona is consistent. She played a lot as a sophomore, but as a junior, she is taking a leadership role."

The Cardinals will have one of their biggest tests of the season Monday, when they travel to Keene (9-0) to face the Blackbirds, one of just four undefeated teams left in the state.

Note: For field hockey, Division I will have 12 playoff teams. Standings based off results reported to NHIAA.org and other media outlets. These are not official standings or pairings.

Division I

Team (record, rating, last week)

Keene (9-0, 4.0000, 1st)
Exeter (8-1, 3.5556, 2nd)
Bishop Guertin (8-1, 3.5556, 4th)
Dover (8-1-1, 3.4000, 6th)
Bedford (7-2, 3.1111, 3rd)
Concord (7-2, 3.1111, 5th)
Winnacunnet (5-2-1, 2.7500, 7th)
Pinkerton (5-3, 2.5000, 8th)
Londonderry (4-4, 2.0000, 10th)
Timberlane (4-5, 1.7778, 9th)
Goffstown (3-6, 1.3333, 12th)
Salem (3-6, 1.3333, 11th)

Outside: Windham (2-6, 1.0000); Merrimack (2-6, 1.0000); Nashua South (2-7, 0.8889); Manchester (1-8, 0.4444); Nashua North (0-8, 0.0000); Portsmouth (0-10, 0.0000).

Tiebreakers

Exeter wins the tiebreaker with Bishop Guertin thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
Bedford wins the tiebreaker with Concord thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.
Goffstown wins the tiebreaker with Salem thanks to a better rating against tournament teams.

First-Round byes (changes in bold)